Aurelis Damaceri
Full Name : Aurelis Van Burace Maiden Name : Damaceri Race : Septus, Silver-Blood Age : It is impolite to ask a lady this, especially one that can turn into a dragon Eyes : Aquamarine Hair : Blonde, long Height : 5'10" Weight : Refuses to tell Innate Element : Ice Weapon(s) : Aurelis generally prefers to avoid direct combat, but does carry an enchanted shortsword for situations that go awry. Known Spells/Abilities : Can summon silver wyrmlings, as well as shift form into a silver dragon of at least 200 years of age/Old status. Ice spells include(but not limited to) : Frost Spikes(a set of three large icicles are shot at her target/s), Freezing Touch, Ice Grasp(causes a mass of ice to form at and around her target's feet), Blinding Blizzard(causes a fierce snowstorm around 10' of her to occur for a full minute, in an attempt to momentarily disorient or even disable any attackers). Aurelis is the second wife of Lord Jaimas, and a woman with a rather dark history. Notoriously snobbish and haughty when she was first encountered, her demeanor has softened considerably in more recent years, due to the direct involvement of her husband. While she initially used her magical and draconic abilities purely for her own enrichment, she has, in more recent times, become much more respected and capable - and one more than willing to follow her husband to the front lines of battle, if necessary. It's not all good news - Aurelis remains somewhat elitist, and has a bit of difficulty understanding the goings-on of the common citizenry - and though she's made numerous overtones to rectify this, she still has some trouble (she sees Raxis, for example, as infinitely superior to Miranda, and ergo has trouble understanding someone from there). Aurelis is, to her credit, an expert on draconic politics (which has helped mediate territory disputes between some of the dragon clutches in the Raxian region), and is extremely knowledgeable about Raxis itself, which has made her extremely skilled at resolving issues in and about the country. Aurelis is a relative newcomer to combat situations compared to her husband and Lady Elhena, but her arsenal of magic more than makes up for her rather limited martial skills. As a Septus, Aurelis also has the ability to assume the form of a silver dragon, an ability which often can completely even the odds in a dangerous situation, though she's rather loath to use this ability unless severely pressed or completely enraged. In combat situations, she tends to fight defensively, using her magical abilities to support any attached squad she's in - or alternately, raining down powerful, ice-based magic on foes from afar. She is also known for sending her familiar, Tyr, and summoned silver wyrmlings, to scout nearby terrain and keep watch on enemy positions, and she's slowly become recognized as a surprisingly capable commander. Aurelis maintains a large number of bizarre quirks dating back to her upbringing, many of which are considered delightful by her husband, and several of which are considered patently ridiculous by most other than her husband. She is extremely eloquent and well-spoken, maintaining decorum at all times. She has a love of glitz, and most of her favored wardrobe is bedecked with a dazzling array of gemstones (diamonds being her favorite), a practice she has carried on despite the fact that many find it needlessly ostentatious. At any given time, Aurelis looks all in the world like she's there to command attention; "dress for success" is more than simply a saying to Aurelis - it's a way of life. Even on the rare occasions Aurelis "dresses down," she maintains some bit of jewelry to accessorize, and even her simplest outfits are oftern quite luxurious. A common sobriquet from Chameleon is that one of Aurelis' dresses is worth the entire Mirandian treasury, but this is obviously an excessive exaggeration; many of Aurelis' dresses make use of synthetic gems designed to keep the appearance she enjoys whilst being economic (though even still they cost a lot), and she tends to only break out the expensive stuff for formal events. Similarly, a common joke from Monique is that even Aurelis' lingerie is festooned with gemstones, though no one has yet confirmed this. Her armor, worn in the field, is more utilitarian, but still quite formal, featuring elegant detail-work - "one does not need to sacrifice defense for style," she's said on multiple occasions, a fact which has revealed itself in that there's a second purpose behind many of her outfits - it's exceptionally easy to slip an enchanted gemstone in amongst the dozens of others studding a ballgown, or to stash a tiny compartment holding a vial of healing potion in what otherwise looks like nothing more than a decorative engraving on a belt buckle - at any given time, Aurelis is usually surprisingly prepared in case a situation goes bad. Aurelis' command squad, appropriately, is one of the best-armored in the Raxian Military, featuring a large number of Raxian Royal Guard units equipped with powered armor. Aurelis' unit features a unique variant of the Raxian shield emblem, with a silver dragon holding the shield from behind protectively, its wings readied to repel an assault. Like Elhena, Aurelis is fond of a certain game, and is known for being a surprisingly good sport when playing it, even with the likes of Kari and Jeanne. She is also musically-talented, and knows how to play the Harpsichord. She is, however, woefully incapable with alchemy. While she can work wonders with metallurgy and ore-based alchemy, anything else she's proved woefully incapable with, often mixing a concoction that accomplishes little but blowing up the alchemy kit she's working with and/or setting her hair on fire. She gets along surprisingly well with Jaimas' daughter, Zoe, who finds Aurelis fascinating - Aurelis is the one who gave Zoe her familiar. She is also on excellent terms with Elhena, who is largely accredited with encouraging Jaimas to marry Aurelis in the first place, though her feelings on Elhena's apparent romantic feelings towards her are, as of currently, unknown. Whilst Jaimas finds Aurelis' quirks amusing and delightful, she is strongly-disliked by most, if not all of the group - her earlier behavior, best-described as grating at best, only too-clearly resonates in peoples' minds, and her coming across, in her early days, as a spoiled, self-important priss won her few friends. She is particularly loathed by Chameleon, Cid, and Queen Brooke of Miranda. She is, ultimately, closest to Jaimas; she spends more time with her husband than anyone else, and Jaimas goes out of his way to reassure her and provide her with emotional support. She is, however, liked by some members of the group, most notably Kid, Luvenia, Prisma, and Hestia. In spite of the obvious progress she has made, Chameleon refuses to acknowledge that she has changed at all. Aurelis strongly dislikes talking about her own background, likening herself to "a flower that grew out of a pot of dirt." She has, however, softened considerably on socializing with the so-called lower-class, however - both due to Jaimas and Elhena being general egalitarian rulers and, the fact that, much like Aurelis herself, both coming from a rather poor upbringing. Understanding that such circumstances can happen to anyone has done a lot to improve her relationship with others, though she remains somewhat obtuse on the specifics of "common life." ---- 'Early Life' In her youth, Aurelis was a royal-blooded Septus from a fairly poor territory - notable only for her unique status setting her up as a potential suitor for Chameleon. Towards that end, Aurelis devoted considerable attention towards gaining Chameleon's favor; she put quite literally everything she had into it. Being Queen of the Septus was the sole reason for her existence and her only real recourse towards a better life for herself. Towards that end, she did everything she could to come across as the most beautiful, intelligent, poised, and collected of all the Septus nobility. This was a situation that consumed her, in no small part due to her siblings, who were of significantly higher status. When the time came for Chameleon to choose a bride, however, he chose a human woman, setting off considerable controversy. Completely losing any hope for a better future due to Chameleon's choice, Aurelis was enraged; she swore to never forget the insult of Chameleon's choosing a human woman over her and denying her what, by all accounts, should have been her birthright. She made an attempt on Valkyrie's life, but failed completely and was publicly disgraced for it. Denied her "rightful" position as Queen, Aurelis nursed her resentment and looked for any opportunity to advance herself. Aurelis had few friends or allies to speak of aside from her own summoned minions and familiar; while technically a noble, she was still quite poor for Draconic nobility, and was constantly reminded of her "low" status. This constant enforcement of inferiority hardened the young woman's heart considerably, forming the basis for the elegant - and largely-elistist - attitude she carried for a great long time afterward (and to a degree, carries to this day). 'Return to Prominence' Aurelis, willing to do virtually anything to restore herself to her previous glory, wound up frequently serving as an unwitting dupe on one side or another in the labyrinthine intrigues that are the Dragon Council's politics. She had hoped her doing so would help her cause, but in truth it did little but further isolate her, and many on the Dragon Council saw Aurelis as nothing more than they did any of their agents: useful if controlled, but not to be trusted. Initial operations that the Council sent her on usually involved "negotiations," wherein the form of negotiation Aurelis gave was usually along the lines of "give me that." A minor thorn in the side of Chameleon's unit for a good part of his career, Aurelis maintained a fierce dislike of both Chameleon and Valkyrie, and proved willing to go against the Council's orders to go after them on several occasions - a choice which very nearly endangered all she had worked for. Still, the fact that she was easily-manipulated and relatively controllable kept her in the employ of several in the Dragon Council who saw value in her. Her fortune changed for the first time when she had a chance encounter with the Lord of Raxis - desperate for any chance to improve her status, she approached Jaimas and offered to become his wife. Despite offers of considerable wealth and prestige to be had by marrying her, she was largely unsuccessful in swaying his opinion, and returned home largely empty-handed. The encounter left a lasting impression on Jaimas, however, who looked into the Septus Princess and her background, trying to learn all he could. 'Reversal of Fortune' At some point, Aurelis' steadfast inability to accomplish her Council contacts' goals resulted in them finally tiring of her, and it was decided that the "cleanest" way to deal with her was to use a long-time adversary of the Dragon Council - Queen Brooke of Miranda - against her. After giving her orders to negotiate with the Mirandian queen, Aurelis handled it as she had handled most negotiations to date - heavy-handedly. She quickly wound up enfuriating Miranda's queen, who likely would have reduced Aurelis to a smear on the wall had Aurelis not had the foresight to see that Brooke was far, far beyond her capability to fight. Using some of her magic to delay Brooke, she fled and went into hiding as Miranda conducted a manhunt, with Aurelis listed an enemy of the state. Aurelis managed to evade capture for several days until she was spotted at a local opera house, attending a show. Attempting to flee, she nearly wound up getting cut down by Valerie and several others, but was rescued at the last second by Jaimas, who absconded with the Septus Princess and brought her back to Raxis. Whilst Jaimas initially claimed that saved her because he was unwilling to see her killed by the Mirandians, the truth was far deeper; Aurelis, being a Dragon Council contact, had very useful intel that could be used to root out corruption on the Dragon Council. Initially intending to quietly work on her and get on her good side, Jaimas made a slight mistake when he gave her a gift - an impressively-carved platinum brooch, with an engraved ruby set in it. The gift touched Aurelis deeply, and though Jaimas was not aware of it, he had done the Dragon equivalent of proposing to her in giving her it - an opportunity that Aurelis jumped at. Elhena encouraged this, seeing Aurelis as a useful potential ally and whilst Jaimas initially couldn't stand Aurelis, he would later admit to his allies that he had fallen for her, finding a spark of decency and caring in her that most simply had no chance to see. Whilst Aurelis, likewise, cared about Jaimas, she was easily blinded by her desire to have her status improved at any cost - and wound up being manipulated by the very Council elements that Jaimas (as well as Chameleon and David) were seeking to stamp out. Lied to repeatedly by the corrupt Council members she worked for, Aurelis became convinced that Jaimas had been intending to betray her the entire time - and wound up turning on him before Jaimas fought her off. He quickly, however, succumbed to a poison she used, and fell deathly ill. Aurelis was forced out of the castle and into the wilderness north of Raxis, pursued by Raxian troops bent on claiming her bounty. 'A New LIfe' Cold and alone in Raxis' Crystal Forest, Aurelis reflected on everything that had happened to her. Her "support" from the council - the very corrupt officials that had used her this whole time - had cut her off, and she realized, only too late, that they had cost her much. Whilst Aurelis had done little but complain for most of her stay in Raxis, Jaimas had been the first person in ages to treat her with truly heartfelt kindness - and now, he was dying due to her actions. Aurelis realized she had been foolish - not an easy admission for her to make by any stretch - and sought some way to make amends for what she had done. Dedicating herself to finding some way to make up for what she had caused, Aurelis did something unprecedented: take responsibility. Several weeks later, after the hunt for her had died down some, Aurelis surrendered to Raxian authorities. She was overjoyed to learn that Jaimas had survived, though he was having exceptional difficulty - and her heart lightened to learn that Jaimas still cared for her. Devoting herself wholeheartedly to helping develop an antitoxin, she worked with Cid for an extended period of time (Cid was less-than-appreciative of this) on a cure - and in time, the pair finally uncovered it. With Jaimas restored to health, Aurelis was cleared of what she had done - provided she turned over all information she had on the corruption in the council - an opportunity that the Septus Princess seized upon immediately. Jaimas offered her a chance to stay in Raxis, since the two were, still, officially, married - and Aurelis gleefully accepted. The rest, as they say, is history.